Movies in Theaters This Friday, July 26, 2013: The Wolverine, The To Do List, Blue Jasmine, and More

Another week, another superhero movie. The third comic book blockbuster (behind Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel) will likely take the box office in a less-than-stellar weekend. Still, there are plenty of limited options to choose from.

The superhero movie is none other than The Wolverine. As the sixth overall X-Men movie, it’ll take place after X-Men: The Last Stand. The Wolverine looks to beat out the critical consensus for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a movie that was panned across the board. Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine as James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) takes over the director’s chair. If you are interested in catching up on the franchise, check out my franchise review here.

The only other wide release goes to The To Do List, a raunchy teen comedy starring Aubrey Plaza (NBC’s Parks and Recreation). Directed by Maggie Carey, the film is about an inexperienced senior (Plaza) looking to learn the ropes before going off to college. Bill Hader (Hot Rod), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), and Andy Samberg (I Love You, Man) also appear in the movie.

On the limited slate, the biggest draw will likely be Woody Allen’s (Midnight in Paris) next project, Blue Jasmine. About a housewife (Cate Blanchett) in crisis mode, the movie will hopefully expand in the coming weeks. Alec Baldwin, Louis CK, and Bobby Cannavale (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) are also in the movie.

The rest of the limited releases are Apartment 1303, Breaking the Girls, Drug War, Frankenstein’s Army, Stranded, The Time Being, and Tiny Times.

Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) spent her entire high school career as an overachiever. While this has left her set for college intellectually, it means that she missed out on a lot of important “experiences” along the way.
As a solution, she comes up with a “to-do list” of all the risqué, extra-curricular activities she missed out on and wants to complete before college. Along the way, she learns a lot about herself and inadvertently experiences much more than she originally set out to.

Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.

Manufacturing just fifty grams of meth in China will earn you a death sentence, and Timmy Choi (Louis Koo) has manufactured tons of it. After a violent lab accident, he’s in the custody of Captain Zhang (Sun Honglei), and now he has only one chance to avoid execution: turn informant and help Zhang’s undercover team take down the powerful cartel he’s been cooking for. But as the uneasy allies are forced to compress months of police work into just 72 sleepless hours, the increasingly desperate police are quickly stretched past their limits. As things spin wildly out of control, the line between duty and recklessness is blurred, and it becomes unclear whether the cop or the criminal truly has the upper hand.

In the dying days of World War II, a battalion of Russian soldiers find themselves lost in enemy territory. Stumbling upon a village decimated by an unseen terror, they’re lured into the secret lab of a deranged scientist (Hellboy’s Karel Roden) and forced to face off against his army of horrific flesh-and-metal war machines. Leaderless and faced with dissention amongst their dwindling ranks, the Russians must find the courage to face down this terrifying new menace – or die trying. A nightmarish fantasy thrill ride unlike any other, Richard Raaphorst’s FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY is a delirious plunge into the darkest depths of insanity.

When a meteor suddenly collides with the Ark moon base, the astronauts on board find themselves in immediate danger. The crew quickly learns that spores from the meteorite can replicate cell structure, reproduce and mutate, forcing everyone on board to fight for their lives.

When four best friends try and move forward in their work and personal life, they realize that trying to live their life’s dream is more difficult than they imagine — especially in the high fashion world of Shanghai.

Jordan, who currently resides in Seattle, WA, has slowly become a film fanatic over the past couple of years. He attributes his love for film to the smash hit THE DARK KNIGHT which has created an (un)healthy obsession with both Christopher Nolan and the Batman franchise. Although he appreciates all genres of film, his favorite movies are typically psychological thrillers, with an emphasis on non-traditional narratives.